Monday, February 25, 2008
On Saturday, it was a glorious day, quite unbelievable for February, brilliant sun and quite warm. So it had to be an afternoon down the allotment. There were loads of people at the site, all making the most of the lovely weather.
I attacked the onion patch, digging in some manure, and I uncovered the bean area that had been tarpaulined since October. I had let all the chopped down beanstalks rot and underneath the ground was dark and crumbly, I just dug in the grassy dead material, it will break down. A few good forkfuls of manure went on too then I planted the echalotes (Jelmor cuisse de poulet), the red onions and the yellow onions, all sets. Today (Monday) it is a bit rainy so they will be well watered in.
While feeling terribly enthusiastic, I also manured and dug over the patches where the spuds will go and covered them with the tarp. That will save me a lot of work in a few weeks' time ;-)
The broad beans have flowers, will they give any beans I wonder? They have been in all winter.
I looked at the new strawberry plants, and I put little sticks around them to keep the black plastic back off the crowns so they can get the maximum sun and rain now. They all seem to have taken, now they just have to grow.
So many heralds of spring, the cherry trees are starting to flower around town, and I noticed that the gooseberries and raspberries are starting to have buds. The rhubarb is growing well, as are the artichokes, and the roses given to me by a friend have all got new growth so they must have rooted well over the winter.
Oh and I nearly forgot, I planted some first peas (Kelvedon Wonder) and ripped up the last remaining Romanesco, broccoli and sprouts. Got about a pound of late sprouts, about 1 1/2 kilos of Romanesco heads and shoots, and 5 lovely leeks. Blimey no wonder I was knackered afterwards, that was a lot of bloody work in retrospect!!!! Still when I look over the plot I see how much work is still to be done :-( BUT the plot on the whole is much more worked over than last year so if I take one patch at a time I am sure it will be OK.
I attacked the onion patch, digging in some manure, and I uncovered the bean area that had been tarpaulined since October. I had let all the chopped down beanstalks rot and underneath the ground was dark and crumbly, I just dug in the grassy dead material, it will break down. A few good forkfuls of manure went on too then I planted the echalotes (Jelmor cuisse de poulet), the red onions and the yellow onions, all sets. Today (Monday) it is a bit rainy so they will be well watered in.
While feeling terribly enthusiastic, I also manured and dug over the patches where the spuds will go and covered them with the tarp. That will save me a lot of work in a few weeks' time ;-)
The broad beans have flowers, will they give any beans I wonder? They have been in all winter.
I looked at the new strawberry plants, and I put little sticks around them to keep the black plastic back off the crowns so they can get the maximum sun and rain now. They all seem to have taken, now they just have to grow.
So many heralds of spring, the cherry trees are starting to flower around town, and I noticed that the gooseberries and raspberries are starting to have buds. The rhubarb is growing well, as are the artichokes, and the roses given to me by a friend have all got new growth so they must have rooted well over the winter.
Oh and I nearly forgot, I planted some first peas (Kelvedon Wonder) and ripped up the last remaining Romanesco, broccoli and sprouts. Got about a pound of late sprouts, about 1 1/2 kilos of Romanesco heads and shoots, and 5 lovely leeks. Blimey no wonder I was knackered afterwards, that was a lot of bloody work in retrospect!!!! Still when I look over the plot I see how much work is still to be done :-( BUT the plot on the whole is much more worked over than last year so if I take one patch at a time I am sure it will be OK.
Labels: onions, peas, potato, romanesco, roses, sprouts, winter
Monday, September 24, 2007
Things are slowing down in the garden, it's that time.
Had the big (but relatively interesting) job on Saturday of cutting down teh sunflowers. OMG I didn't realize how HEAVY they were! Of course I was on foot so ended up lugging about 12 kilos of flowerheads back home, where I wrapped the heads in newspaper and hung them up to dry. The seeds are looking really promising, very big and plump. Now just have to figure out what to do with them!!
The raspberries are still giving as are the little tomatoes, so we ate some of those over the weekend.
The strawberry runners I planted are being watched carefully. Some seemed to be dying off, but on closer inspection they are giving a little green crown in the middle so I guess they have rooted after all. 3 or 4 seem dead though, but I have some more rooted runners that I found around the initial patch so I have some replacements for those. Next year should be mega strawberry year, yum yum. In fact I must say that I find the fruit growing the most satisfying thing of all.
I also planted those nice roses that my friend gave me, four in the ground and one in a big pot. Wait till spring now and see if they take. I tied up my one chrysanthemum which was very floppy, it is full of flower buds and should give a spectacular display (they are white double heads).
I think that pretty soon there will be other things, the Brussel sprouts are forming and so are the leeks, I have flowers all over the late french beans and the carrots and beets are swelling. The handful of peas I planted are now bizarrely doing well, while all the spring ones were disastrous. Strange.
It is all going to be maintenance from now on, get some fertilising material in (MUST find poo!!!), sow more green manure wherever there is a patch and cut down all the things that will die off over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully having the whole winter period to prepare this year will mean a better harvest next spring.
Next step - take some pics for you all :-)
Had the big (but relatively interesting) job on Saturday of cutting down teh sunflowers. OMG I didn't realize how HEAVY they were! Of course I was on foot so ended up lugging about 12 kilos of flowerheads back home, where I wrapped the heads in newspaper and hung them up to dry. The seeds are looking really promising, very big and plump. Now just have to figure out what to do with them!!
The raspberries are still giving as are the little tomatoes, so we ate some of those over the weekend.
The strawberry runners I planted are being watched carefully. Some seemed to be dying off, but on closer inspection they are giving a little green crown in the middle so I guess they have rooted after all. 3 or 4 seem dead though, but I have some more rooted runners that I found around the initial patch so I have some replacements for those. Next year should be mega strawberry year, yum yum. In fact I must say that I find the fruit growing the most satisfying thing of all.
I also planted those nice roses that my friend gave me, four in the ground and one in a big pot. Wait till spring now and see if they take. I tied up my one chrysanthemum which was very floppy, it is full of flower buds and should give a spectacular display (they are white double heads).
I think that pretty soon there will be other things, the Brussel sprouts are forming and so are the leeks, I have flowers all over the late french beans and the carrots and beets are swelling. The handful of peas I planted are now bizarrely doing well, while all the spring ones were disastrous. Strange.
It is all going to be maintenance from now on, get some fertilising material in (MUST find poo!!!), sow more green manure wherever there is a patch and cut down all the things that will die off over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully having the whole winter period to prepare this year will mean a better harvest next spring.
Next step - take some pics for you all :-)
Labels: raspberry, roses, strawberry runners, summer, sunflowers
Friday, September 21, 2007
One of my friends from work has just moved into a new house, and she has lots of roses in the garden. Strangely enough, she doesn't want them!!! SO her dad went out and dug them all up and pruned them back and she brought them all naked-rooted into work for us all to share. I ended up taking 5!!! Dunno where I will put them!! I suppose I could plant one outside my shed... and the others in the flower beds? I might try one in a big pot outside my windowsill at home, but everything I plant at home seems to die so I am sceptical.
Anyway she says they are bushy varieties with red flowers, a nice surpise next spring. For now they are in a big plastic bag at the lottie with the roots in sand and I will plant them out tomorrow.
So thank you Elodie for that kind gesture.
Anyway she says they are bushy varieties with red flowers, a nice surpise next spring. For now they are in a big plastic bag at the lottie with the roots in sand and I will plant them out tomorrow.
So thank you Elodie for that kind gesture.
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